


extraordinary magic

by pinefinch



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Dragons, M/M, Magic, Royalty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:02:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28253616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinefinch/pseuds/pinefinch
Summary: Elmer and Buttons, once good friends, haven't seen each other for the better part of the decade, until an assignment from the king brings Elmer back to Manhattan.
Relationships: Buttons/Elmer (Newsies)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6





	extraordinary magic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jaelynn_is_still_confused](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaelynn_is_still_confused/gifts).



> gift for @jaelynn-is-slightly-confused on tumblr as part of the @newsies-secretsanta tumblr gift exchange! happy holidays, jae!

_**i: heaven and earth and the king on his throne** _

No one would ever guess Elmer Kasprzak, the boy with a smile made of sunshine, was a mage.

You really wouldn't have the faintest idea, right up until you actually saw him cast a spell—which no one ever did, of course.

He was smart, keeping it that way. Even in New York, sorcery was feared, and mages like Elmer ran the risk of being outlawed from the kingdom, imprisoned, or worse.

Currently, though, Elmer was alone, perched in the back of a carriage with his leather-bound spellbook hidden among the folds of his cloak.

He’d been summoned by the King on what was supposedly an urgent mission in which he was set to be working alongside the kingdom’s eldest prince, Benjamin Davenport.

Elmer and the prince had known each other for a long time. They’d grown up together, in fact, until Elmer’s parents—diplomats—were reassigned to serve in the borough of Richmond.

As a consequence, this would be the first time Elmer found himself in Manhattan for almost a decade, and the first time he’d seen Benjamin in just as long.

He remembered countless summer evenings at the Davenport castle, causing trouble with the crown prince and his twin sister, Cassandra, though he’d rarely called either of them by their given names.

Both had been nicknamed throughout their childhood—Benjamin was called Buttons after an incident at the tailor’s with a brand-new vest, and Cassandra, being far shorter than either of the boys, was Smalls.

The carriage halted, and a glance outside revealed they’d arrived at the castle; and by the looks of it, there was a small party outside waiting to greet him.

Elmer checked to make sure his spellbook was still safely hidden away in an inner pocket of his traveling cloak before stepping out with as much grace as he could muster, thanking the driver as he marched up the expanse of stone steps.

Several members of the Davenport family stood in a line, though Elmer’s eyes were drawn to the King and Queen standing on the far side, just off to his left. He gave a customary bow as he halted in front of the group. “Your Majesty,”

“Lord Kasprzak.” Once his greeting had been returned, Elmer straightened, turning to meet Buttons’ eye.

He grinned, before remembering he was supposed to behave formally. “Prince, I look forward to working with you,”

“And I with you,” Buttons smiled before inclining his head towards the short-haired girl at his shoulder. “I take it you remember my sister?”

“Of course. Cassandra, it's good to see you,” Elmer took her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles, noting that he earned an approving nod from the Queen.

She curtsied. “Lord Kasprzak, my pleasure.”

“Come inside, if you would. You’ll be going with Benjamin to meet the rest of your party and discuss the… ah, issue,” the King interceded. “I’ll have someone bring your things to your quarters for you,”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” He bowed again before hurrying after Buttons and Smalls, who had already begun retreating towards the oaken doors.

Elmer slowed to a walk as he drew even with the twins.

“So, Buttons,” he began, trailing off as a crooked grin flickered across the prince’s face.

“Sorry, it's just been a long time since I’ve heard that name, formality is exhausting. Honestly, I was afraid that you’d forgotten. Continue?”

“Well, I still haven't been told what it is we'll be doing,”

Smalls raised an eyebrow. “Oh, boy. They didn't tell you?”

Buttons nudged her in the ribs as Elmer assumed a panic-stricken expression.

“Hush, it's not as bad as you’re making it sound. There's just a colony of dragons that decided to nest up in Hudson, which, as you know, isn't ideal. The village is small enough that their town guard isn't equipped to handle a situation like this, so the responsibility falls to us.”

“ _Dragons_? Buttons, that sounds pretty bad,”

He shook his head, though the action wasn't exactly reassuring. “We’ll be careful, Elmer, don't worry,”

———

_**ii: i live in my heart (‘cause i don't want to stay in the dark)** _

“We’ll only be gone for a few days, we aren't _moving_ to Hudson,” Buttons snickered, watching Elmer flit back and forth across the room as he attempted to fit several weeks’ worth of clothing into a knapsack.

Elmer paused, several neatly-pressed shirts bundled in his arms. “Well, what if we get lost?"

“We won't get lost,”

“Yeah, but what if we _do_?”

“Elm, just trust me. It’ll be alright,” he promised, dropping into one of the high-backed chairs that lined one wall of his quarters.

Elmer hesitated for another moment before discarding his clothes on a bench. “Fine. Can we go meet the others now?”

“Sure.” Buttons stood and grabbed Elmer’s elbow, tugging him out of the room and down the hall. “They should be in the conference hall,”

A pair of guards stood in front of the towering double doors, bowing to Buttons as he and Elmer stopped a few paces away from them. “Your Highness,” one greeted as the other turned, yanking the door open and waving them through.

“Thank you, Seitz,” Buttons marched inside, with Elmer padding along meekly at his heels. A low table was set in the middle of the room, with low wooden stools scattered around it.

The stools were occupied by several people crowded around a map, talking in low voices.

“Ah, Benny. Glad you decided to join us,” a blonde boy with an eyepatch over one eye drawled, looking up at the two. “You’ve brought a stray along, have you?”

Elmer's eyebrows furrowed. “Lord Elmer Kasprzak of Richmond borough. Not a stray,”

“That's Sir Louis Baletti. He’s a knight. Just call him Blink,” Buttons offered, taking a seat at the table.

“I’m a knight too,” A boy with a curly nest of hair and a crooked grin spoke up, beaming at Elmer. “Sir Nickolai Meyers at your service. You can call me Mush, though,”

Elmer sat next to Buttons, who snapped his fingers to catch the attention of two others seated across from them, still talking like a pair of starlings.

“Pleased to meet you, Lord Kasprzak. Good afternoon, Prince. I’m Bryan Denton,” A man in a pinstriped suit nodded in greeting. “This is my apprentice, Katherine Plumber,”

He nudged the girl beside him. “Oh—hi,” She tore her gaze away from the map splayed across the desk, red curls swinging back and forth as she moved.

“They're dracologists,” Buttons explained. “Know all there is to know about dragons, so they'll be coming along. Mush and Blink are here ‘cause they need something to keep them busy,” Buttons laughed as the knights responded with varying levels of indigence.

“Now that all the introductions are out of the way, can we get going?” Katherine spoke up, arching an eyebrow as she looked between the party.

Her words were met with several nods, and, in Blink’s case, a halfhearted shrug, so they gathered their things and set off.

Elmer fell back to walk alongside Buttons as they left the castle behind them and turned onto a dirt path, shouldering him gently as he trotted along beside him.

“You don't seem very excited,” he commented, and Buttons sighed in response.

“No, I am, but my dad assigned this mission to me so he can evaluate me, or whatever. See if I’ll be ready to take over as king in a few years, you know? It's a lot of pressure, and I don't feel like I’m ever going to be ready, truth be told,”

———

_**iii: run through the forest, settle before the sun** _

“Alright, how about we break for a while?” Denton’s voice rang out from the front of the column, so the group left the path and settled in a ragged circle on the hillside.

Katherine flitted around the circle, offering a drink from the flask of water that Mush had brought along.

Elmer took a swig, cringing at the slightly leathery taste. Water sitting in the military-issued flasks for any length of time tended to absorb the flavor, but it was still preferable to dehydration. “Thanks, Kath,”

Buttons snickered knowingly beside him. “That quest water ‘s pretty good, huh?” He was busy polishing his longbow, with the weapon balanced across his knees.

“Excellent. What are you doing?” Elmer pointed towards the bow, raising his eyebrows.

“Just oiling,” Buttons shook the piece of cloth in his hand, fixing Elmer with a look of inquiry. “You shoot?”

“Oh—oh, no,” he shook his head, grinning sheepishly. “Never learned. Not exactly a common sport in Richmond,”

Across the circle, Mush took a sip of water from his flask. He was sitting sideways, leaning against Blink’s shoulder. “Hey, Ben, you should teach him.”

“That's really not such a bad idea, Prince,” Denton chimed in, taking a seat beside the pair of knights.

Blink broke into a grin. “Yeah, Elm, did’ya know Benny there is the best archer east of Staten Island?

“Aw, c’mon,” Buttons shook his head, though one corner of his mouth had quirked up into a smile.

He turned to Elmer. “What do you say, Elmer?”

“Sure,” He laughed nervously as Buttons stood, rolling up his sleeve to unknot several cords keeping a piece of leather flush against his forearm. “Right now?”

“Have to start sometime. Besides, this’ll keep us busy on the road,”

Buttons led Elmer to a spot a few yards away from the others, deftly tying the leather square onto Elmer’s arm. “That's a bracer. You’ll thank me later,”

The prince nodded towards a nearby hill that rose above the rest of the landscape. “There's your target. Draw and loose as you please,”

Elmer adjusted the quiver of arrows that he’d slung over his back, frowning as he studied the longbow Buttons had placed in his hands.

“I’m not exactly sure how,” he admitted, and Buttons nodded in understanding.

“No worries. Uh, it’ll probably be too tall for you, but that's alright for now. Keep your non-dominant arm straight out in front of you, and draw the string all the way back to the corner of your mouth, that's your anchor point—” he instructed, before quieting as he noticed the confused furrow in Elmer's eyebrows.

“Okay— er, here...” Buttons shifted to stand behind Elmer, chest brushing his shoulder blades as he wound his arms around the other boy’s torso to reach up and adjust his stance.

Elmer flushed red as Blink wolf-whistled from somewhere behind them, and he found himself glad that Buttons couldn't see his face.“Thanks,”

“Now that I think about it, the draw weight is pretty high. Can you pull it back?”

He managed just over halfway before Buttons took his hand, carefully maneuveringhis arm to reduce the tension on the string. “Yeah, that's what I thought, but I’ll help you. Try again,”

Elmer adjusted his grip on the bowstring, humming as Buttons hooked his fingers on either side of Elmer's, the prince’s free hand tentatively settling at his hip to counteract the weight of the bow as the pair drew it back in a fluid motion.

“Release on my count. One, two…” The fletching brushed against his cheek as Buttons spoke lowly into his ear.

A quiet ‘three’ and the arrow soared across the expanse of grassland, arcing down before being buried up to the end of the shaft in the hillside.

Elmer slackened his hold on the longbow as he twisted to one side to look up at Buttons, breaking into a grin.

“Good job, Elm,”

———

_**iv: a brook too broad for leaping** _

After Elmer and Buttons had emptied the quiver and the muscles in Elmer's back were aching, they decided to continue on their way.

When the sky turned dark, they stopped to camp for the night, rolling up in their cloaks to ward off the chill. They rose with the sun the next morning, heading off towards Hudson.

By late morning, the party had made it to the town. Denton took charge as he was the only one who knew his way around, and they had a brief meeting with the duke of Hudson, a man named Jacobi.

He’d arranged for a few members of the garrison to show them where the flight of dragons had been living. They were led to a stretch of forest just outside of the town, to a thick grove of trees.

The dragons were smaller than Elmer had been anticipating, generally about as tall as a large dog, though much leaner. Fine scales caught light that filtered through the canopy of leaves overhead, reflecting a rainbow of colors off of their silver skin.

“Are they edible?” Blink had quipped, yelping indignantly when Katherine swatted at his arm, hissing that he wasn’t going to be allowed near them.

Denton sighed. “Hush, you two. These are just Hollowcrests, luckily, so there won't be much trouble. They're usually familiars, so I’m surprised to see this many in the wild,”

Elmer shifted, studying the creatures with a new interest. They didn't seem particularly magical, but he wasn't claiming to be any sort of expert.

Denton was speaking again, so Elmer refocused his attention.

“They're easily spooked, so we’ll just have Nick and Louis run around and scare them off. The rest of us will hunt around for some rocks to scatter around here. They have an aversion to stone, for some reason, so we shouldn't have to worry about them coming back.”

Blink and Mush exchanged a look before obediently stepping into the clearing, walking side by side towards the dragons. As Denton had predicted, the nearest dragons took flight, upsetting the leaves as they went.

Buttons touched Elmer's shoulder, starting in surprise as a volt of electricity raced into his fingertips. “Wanna hunt down some rocks with me?” He asked, a hopeful note creeping into his tone.

“Oh, sure. Bet I can find more rocks than you,” Elmer challenged, and Buttons snorted, breaking into a grin.

“You're on.”

The pair bounded further into the trees, Elmer's knapsack bouncing against the small of his back as he picked up his pace.

Buttons sifted through a mound of half-decayed leaves, sighing as it didn't reveal any stones hidden among the foliage. “I’m gonna go check up closer to the village. Don't get eaten by a dragon while I’m gone,”

Elmer laughed, waving him away. “Right back at you. Good luck,”

As Buttons marched away, Elmer returned to his task, wandering around the grove still on the seemingly endless search for rocks.

His stretch of the forest evidently seemed to be void of them, so after a sly glance around to verify he was alone, Elmer wrestled his spellbook out of his cloak, flicking through the pages.

After whispering the words of an incantation, he’d conjured up an armful of stones, happily collecting them before returning to the clearing with the others.

“Nice of you to join us,” Blink drawled, tone thick with sarcasm, and Elmer shrugged apologetically, adding his own rocks to a small pile in the center of the space.

When Denton had deemed their work suitable, the party bid Duke Jacobi farewell and set off towards Manhattan.

The sun was starting to set, but Denton was determined to get as far as they could before stopping for the night. Ahead of them, Mush crossed a creek with ease, then turned to help Katherine step across. Buttons, Denton, and Blink followed before waving Elmer along.

Elmer made the mistake of stepping on a moss-covered rock halfway across and his feet went out from underneath him, sending him pitching ungracefully into the rushing water.

Blink was there a moment later, hauling him to his feet and guiding him out onto the riverbank.

“Elmer,” Katherine clicked her tongue, undoing the clasp of his traveling cloak and tugging it off of his shoulders. “You're gonna freeze tonight. Got any dry clothes?”

“No,” Elmer mumbled, catching Buttons’ eye. “But I _would_ , if someone hadn't convinced me to leave it all back at the castle,”

Buttons looked like he was going to argue, but then shrugged. “Yeah, actually, that's fair. You can just share my cloak tonight—he isn't gonna _freeze_ , Kathy,” he assured the redhead, who looked concerned.

Denton clapped his hands, and everyone shifted their focus to him curiously. “Well, now that all of that's settled, I was going to suggest we just call it a day, before Elmer drowns or something,”

Mush giggled, swatting Elmer on the shoulder. “Hey, sounds good to me. It's been a long day,”

Elmer awkwardly turned to face Buttons, who'd wandered off to one side of the trail and sat with his back against the trunk of a pine tree. He patted the space on the ground next to him. “Get comfy, I guess?”

———

_**v: your city gave me asthma** _

They had returned to the castle a week prior, and after several nights where he didn't have to hear Blink’s snoring, Elmer was well-rested and preparing to return to Richmond.

He was in Buttons’ quarters, carefully repacking his things. Truth be told, he’d spent just as much time messing around than he did actually packing.

Currently, Elmer was making sparks of electricity arc back and forth between his fingers, dancing up his knuckles. He hadn't really practiced any of his magic in some days, so he was glad to take advantage of the opportunity.

The bolts fizzled out when there was a knock on the door. To his surprise, Mush and Katherine appeared in the entrance, the former clad in a suit with the Manhattan crest stitched over the pocket and the latter in a pine-green gown.

“You're leaving?” Mush frowned, waving a hand at Elmer's bags.

“Uh, yeah. Didn't want to stay away from home for too long,” He shrugged awkwardly, crossing his arms. “You guys look nice. What’re you up to?”

Katherine raised an eyebrow. “The King arranged that party tonight, remember? For the festival. Buttons was expecting all of us to be there, you know. I think he’d lose his mind if he had to deal with all of the formal stuff alone all evening,”

“Oh—right. I forgot,” Elmer lied, and Katherine frowned. “Well, it's not too late, the guests are just now arriving. Did you bring anything you could wear?”

Mush had wandered past Elmer and was surveying the contents of his bags. “Doesn't look like it. Want me to raid Buttons’ closet?”

“Don't raid Buttons’ clos—”

“Yeah, I’m sure he wouldn't mind,” Katherine interrupted. “Now that I think about it, he’d probably like to see you in his clothes,” she teased, snickering as Elmer's ears reddened.

“He already did. Remember when they cuddled underneath his cloak the other night?” Mush called, already sifting through a dresser of Buttons’ formal wear.

Elmer only blushed more, which Katherine evidently found to be hilarious from her sporadic fits of giggles she couldn't quite contain. “C’mon, lovebird, get changed,” she nudged him away, so Elmer reluctantly accepted the clothing that Mush shoved toward his hands. “What's this?”

“Don't worry about that. Just put it on,” Mush nodded to the tall barricade in one corner that served as a changing area.

Elmer disappeared behind the panels, hurriedly changing into the clothes Mush had picked out for him. “I don't know about this,” he admitted, stepping out so the pair could offer their thoughts.

The knight had given him a dark burgundy suit, accented with black on the collar and cuffs. Buttons was undeniably taller than him, so it didn't fit perfectly, but Katherine and Mush didn't seem to mind as they chorused their opinions, fawning over the rare sight of Elmer in a suit.

Katherine fussed over his hair, trying and failing to tame his messy tangle of hair.

Elmer eventually waved her away, settling for raking his fingers through it. “I don't want to overstay my welcome. Maybe I should just—”

“Nope, if _I_ have to go, so do you,” Mush huffed, more or less dragging Elmer out of the room with Katherine on their heels.

———

_**vi: we made a garden of the love we found** _

The dance hall was crowded with people, but Katherine and Mush determinedly wove their way through the gathering to the front of the hall.

The entirety of the Davenport family seemed to be there, but the trio started towards Buttons, Smalls, and Blink, who all waved at the approaching party.

“Is that my suit?” Buttons looked at Elmer, who guiltily nodded before pointing accusingly at both Katherine and Mush.

Katherine and Mush grinned, clearly happy to accept the blame.

Buttons raised an eyebrow before he turned back to Elmer, a tentative smile creeping across his face. “Well, uh, you look good. I-I mean, not like… _good_ good, but, uh— you look really good, Elmer,”

“You are _hopeless_ ,” Smalls stage-whispered as she pinched the bridge of her nose, mystified by her brother's behavior.

Katherine stifled a laugh, throwing an arm across Elmer's shoulders. “Hey, Buttons, wanna dance with Elmer? Someone has to babysit him so he doesn't get lost, you know,”

The prince didn't reply, but he took Elmer's hand, tugging him through the crowd.

“Looks like we both could use an escape from, you know… _them_ ,” he joked, and Elmer laughed, nodding in agreement.

Buttons and Elmer edged past the crowd, and, much to Elmer's surprise, left the hall behind in favor of the courtyard.

The space was ringed with flowering bushes and neat rows of trees. Buttons led Elmer into the center of the square, stepping away to bow as a soft smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.“May I have this dance?”

Elmer could only nod, so Buttons took his hands and guided them to his shoulders before his own rested at Elmer's waist.

“I wasn't sure what my father would think if he saw us dancing together,” he finally broke the silence, eyes trailing over Elmer's face as he searched for a reaction.

“Oh,” Elmer mumbled eloquently, following Buttons’ lead as they began to ghost across the cobblestone brick, shoes echoing dully as they stepped in time to silent music.

They grew quiet for a moment, reveling in each other's peaceful company, until Elmer let out a soft sigh. “Buttons, can I tell you something?”

“If you’d like, sure,” Buttons replied, a timid edge lacing his voice.

“I’m a mage,”

Buttons hesitated for a moment, easy stride faltering while his fingers tightened against Elmer's waist. “Are you joking?”

“Don't tell anyone,” Elmer pleaded, the potential consequences now at the forefront of his mind.

“It can be our secret,” Buttons reassured, satisfied as Elmer visibly relaxed.

Elmer studied Buttons for a moment before snapping his fingers. Dozens of small flowers bloomed in the prince’s hair, interwoven in the brown locks, and both boys were unable to stifle the smiles that crept across their faces.

**Author's Note:**

> featured songs:  
> "extraordinary magic" by ben rector  
> "caesar" by the oh hellos  
> "organs" by of monsters and men  
> "ragged wood" by fleet foxes  
> "for mercy" by the ballroom thieves  
> "jubilee line" by wilbur soot  
> "honeybee" the head and the heart


End file.
